By James Thaler

April 21 - (The Insurer) - Assurex Global is planning to launch a new London wholesale broker in the coming months, a venture that is expected to be backed by the independent brokerage network’s existing partners and establish an intermediary with a permanent ownership structure.

The new London wholesale intermediary will be led by former Evolin Broking head of commercial Will Ripley, with an initial headcount of around 10 colleagues who will largely be joining the new operation from Evolin.

The idea for the new venture was hatched in the last 18 months. It is in part a response to the evolving London wholesale landscape, where a steady stream of M&A and team moves has generated instability.

The new business, which will operate under the brand name AG London, will be owned by Assurex as well as its partner firms.

Assurex was founded in 1954 and has been led by president Dean Hildebrandt for the last six years.

It is an exclusive partnership of privately held independent agents and brokers globally that manage $46 billion in annual premium volume. It has more than 730 partner offices.

Its partners include some of the largest privately held U.S. intermediaries, including IMA Financial, CAC Group, Cottingham & Butler, M3 Insurance Solutions and Insurica, among others.

Assurex had explored developing a similar concept of a partner-owned London intermediary around the wholesaler previously known as GAWS of London, which was jointly owned by UK-based Griffiths & Armour and U.S.-based Woodruff Sawyer.

GAWS of London rebranded as Evolin last year.

Griffiths & Armour was acquired by Aon at the start of this year, while Evolin is set to be integrated into Arthur J Gallagher following the $1.2 billion takeover of Woodruff Sawyer that closed earlier this month.

Assurex partner firms that invest in the business will be required to be a current Assurex partner to remain an investor in AG London, meaning that if a partner that invests in the London wholesale operation is acquired, they would be required to sell their AG London stake.

Sources with direct knowledge of the venture’s launch described it as an “evergreen” broker, meaning that it is being set up to maintain its independence in perpetuity.

Assurex is sending a private placement memo to partner firms this week to drum up capital support for the business, which is expected to be somewhere in the 5 million pounds to 8 million pounds ($6.6 million to $10.6 million) range, with equity stakes in AG London capped at 10% for any individual investor.

Sources with direct knowledge of the launch said they expect equity stakes for the new business to range between 3% and 10%, in general, and that somewhere in the range of 15-30 of Assurex’s current partners are expected to invest.

The new vehicle will not be exclusively available to Assurex partners and can be accessed by brokers outside the Assurex partner network.

AG London will not, however, serve as Assurex partners’ exclusive London wholesale broker.

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter said that AG London could look to scale headcount beyond its plans at launch, having received inbound from talent around London about joining.

AG London is looking to launch on either June 1 or July 1 and focus on “opportunistic” areas of the market like financial and professional lines, marine, cargo and cyber, among others.

It will be led by Ripley, who left his role with Evolin in October 2024 after six years with the wholesaler, where he has also served as the head of marine and cargo. Ripley previously worked for Marsh for around nine years across two stints with the firm.

The roles he held at Marsh include serving as the head of Marsh McLennan Agency’s marine wholesale business out of London.

A spokesperson for Assurex declined to comment. Griffiths & Armour and Athur J Gallagher did not immediately respond to a request for comment.